Governor Proclaims Alcohol Awareness Month 2024

ALCOHOL AWARENESS MONTH

2024

BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, in 2022, an estimated nearly 5,800 people died from alcohol-related causes in North Carolina, and approximately 32,000 people visited North Carolina emergency rooms for acute alcohol intoxication; and

WHEREAS, excessive alcohol consumption is the third leading cause of preventable death in North Carolina and is associated with risky behavior, violence, suicide, homicide, and vehicular accidents; excessive alcohol consumption is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as binge drinking, heavy drinking, and any drinking by pregnant women or people younger than age 21; and

WHEREAS, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services operates three Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Centers that serve adults in need of substance use disorder treatment and psychiatric stabilization; and

WHEREAS, the level of excessive drinking in North Carolina is increasing based on measurements made from 2019 – 2022; and

WHEREAS, excessive alcohol consumption in North Carolina costs over $9.7 million a year in health care costs (including fetal alcohol disorders), criminal justice expense, lost productivity at work, and motor vehicular crash costs; and

WHEREAS, neuroscience tells us that the developing adolescent brain is far more sensitive to alcohol than the mature adult brain, and underage alcohol use can negatively impact student success and athletic performance; robust prevention efforts by collaborating agencies and organizations in North Carolina have helped to raise the average age at which young people begin to use alcohol, yet 19 percent of high school students surveyed reported drinking in the last 30 days and, of those, 50 percent reported binge drinking in the past 30 days; and

WHEREAS, the North Carolina Alcohol Beverage Control Commission’s Initiative to Reduce Underage Drinking, Talk It Out NC, works to combat underage drinking by spreading education about alcohol’s health risks and raising awareness about the resources available to families to start the conversation; and

WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina believes in the collective impact of parents, teachers, coaches, medical professionals, faith leaders, and public and private organizations to support early education about alcoholism and addiction, and to provide hope, help, and healing for those in our communities who are facing challenges with alcohol use and misuse;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim April, 2024, as “ALCOHOL AWARENESS MONTH” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

________________________________________

Roy Cooper

Governor

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twenty-seventh day of March in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.